WRTI is proud to present the 2024-25 season of the Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts. Tune in every Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, at 90.1 FM, streaming at wrti.org, or on the WRTI Mobile App.
The broadcast first aired in 1931, making it the longest-running classical program in American radio history. Its title sponsor is The Robert K. Johnson Foundation, which has committed to supporting the broadcast through its centennial 2031-2032 season.
Highlights of the 2025-26 season include Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, led by The Met Opera’s music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin; a new production of Bellini’s La Sonnambula, conducted by Riccardo Frizza; and Bizet’s Carmen, with Aigul Akhmetshina in the title role. Network broadcast premieres include Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence, with a libretto by Sofi Oksanen; Gabriela Lena Frank’s El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, inspired by the lives of Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera; and Mason Bates’ The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Chabon.
All broadcasts at 1 p.m. Eastern Time except as noted.
Dec. 6 – Puccini: La bohème
Daniele Rustioni; Juliana Grigoryan (Mimì), Stephen Costello (Rodolfo), Mané Galoyan (Musetta), David Bizic (Marcello), Alexander Köpeczi (Colline), Iurii Samoilov (Schaunard), Donald Maxwell (Benoit/Alcindoro)
Dec. 13 – Giordana: Andrea Chénier
Daniele Rustioni; Piotr Beczała (Andrea Chénier), Sonya Yoncheva (Maddalena di Coigny), Igor Golovatenko (Carlo Gérard)
Dec. 20 at 12 p.m. – Mozart: The Magic Flute
Steven White; Paul Appleby (Tamino), Joélle Harvey (Pamina), Michael Sumuel (Papageno), Rainelle Krause (Queen of the Night), Alexander Köpeczi (Sarastro), Thomas Capobianco (Monostatos), Harold Wilson (Speaker)
Dec. 27 – Handel at the Met – A celebration of Handel at the holidays, with excerpts from Met performances, in honor of the 300th anniversary of Rodelinda
Jan. 3 – Mason Bates: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Libretto by Gene Scheer – New Production/Met Premiere – Performance from Fall 2025
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Andrzej Filończyk (Joe Kavalier), Miles Mykkanen (Sam Clay), Sun-Ly Pierce (Rosa Saks), Lauren Snouffer (Sarah Kavalier), Edward Nelson (Tracy Bacon), Patrick Carfizzi (Sheldon Anapol), Craig Colclough (Gerhard)
Jan. 10 – Bellini: I Puritani – New Production
Marco Armiliato; Lisette Oropesa (Elvira Walton), Lawrence Brownlee (Lord Arturo Talbot), Artur Ruciński (Riccardo Forth), Christian Van Horn (Giorgio Walton)
Jan. 17 – Bizet: Carmen
Pier Giorgio Morandi; Aigul Akhmetshina (Carmen), Michael Fabiano (Don José), Janai Brugger (Micaëla), Christian Van Horn (Escamillo)
Jan 24 – Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
Kwamé Ryan; Alfred Walker (Porgy), Brittany Renee (Bess), Ryan Speedo Green (Crown), Frederick Ballentine (Sportin’ Life), Leah Hawkins (Serena), Vuvu Mpofu (Clara), Denyce Graves (Maria), Benjamin Taylor (Jake)
Jan. 31 – Strauss: Arabella – Performance from Nov. 22, 2025
Nicholas Carter; Rachel Willis-Sørensen (Arabella), Tomasz Konieczny (Mandryka), Louise Alder (Zdenka), Pavol Breslik (Matteo), Brindley Sherratt (Waldner)
Feb. 7 – Massenet: Werther – Artist’s Choice – Chosen by Lawrence Brownlee – Performance from Feb. 3, 1979
Richard Bonynge; Alfredo Kraus (Werther), Régine Crespin (Charlotte), Kathleen Battle (Sophie), Lenus Carlson (Albert)
Feb. 14 – Mozart: Idomeneo – Artist’s Choice – Chosen by Joyce DiDonato – Performance from Feb. 15, 1986
Jeffrey Tate; David Rendall (Idomeneo), Benita Valente (Ilia), Frederica von Stade (Idamante), Hildegard Behrens (Elettra), John Alexander (Arbace)
Feb. 21 – Puccini: Manon Lescaut – Artist’s Choice – Chosen by Asmik Grigorian – Performance from March 17, 1990
Nello Santi; Mirella Freni (Manon), Peter Dvorsky (Des Grieux), Brian Schexnayder (Lescaut), Italo Tajo (Geronte)
Feb. 28 – Berlioz: La Prise de Troie (Les Troyens, Part One) – Artist’s Choice – Chosen by Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Performance from March 16, 1974
Rafael Kubelík; Shirley Verrett (Cassandre), Jon Vickers (Énée), Louis Quilico (Chorèbe)
March 7 – Berlioz: Les Troyens À Carthage (Les Troyens, Part Two) – Artist’s Choice – Chosen by Yannick Nézet Séguin – Performance from March 16, 1974
Rafael Kubelík; Christa Ludwig (Didon), Jon Vickers (Énée), Mignon Dunn (Anna), John Macurdy (Narbal)
March 14 – Puccini: Madama Butterfly
Carlo Rizzi; Sonya Yoncheva (Cio-Cio-San), Adam Smith (Pinkerton), Jennifer Johnson Cano (Suzuki), Quinn Kelsey (Sharpless)
March 21 at 12 p.m. – Wagner: Tristan und Isolde – New Production
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Lise Davidsen (Isolde), Michael Spyres (Tristan), Ekaterina Gubanova (Brangäne), Ryan Speedo Green (King Marke), Tomasz Konieczny (Kurwenal)
March 28 – Verdi: La Traviata
Antonello Manacorda; Lisette Oropesa (Violetta Valéry), Piotr Buszewski (Alfredo Germont), Luca Salsi (Giorgio Germont)
April 4 – Ponchielli: La Gioconda – Celebrating the opera’s 150th anniversary with a performance from March 2, 1968
Fausto Cleva; Renata Tebaldi (La Gioconda), Carlo Bergonzi (Enzo), Fiorenza Cossotto (Laura), Cornell MacNeil (Barnaba), Bonaldo Giaiotti (Alvise), Mignon Dunn (La Cieca)
April 11 – Mozart: Don Giovanni – Performance from Sept. 24, 2025
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Ryan Speedo Green (Don Giovanni), Federica Lombardi (Donna Anna), Adam Plachetka (Leporello), Janai Brugger (Donna Elvira), Ben Bliss (Don Ottavio), Hera Hyesang Park (Zerlina), William Guanbo Su (Masetto), Adam Palka (Commendatore)
April 18 – Kaija Saariaho: Innocence – Libretto by Sofi Oksanen – Multilingual Libretto and English Translation by Aleksi Barrière – Network Broadcast Premiere
Susanna Mälkki; Jacquelyn Stucker (Bride), Kathleen Kim (Mother-In-Law), Joyce DiDonato (Waitress), Miles Mykkanen (Bridegroom), Rod Gilfry (Father-In-Law), Stephen Milling (Priest), Lucy Shelton (Teacher), Vilma Jää (Markéta), Beate Mordal (Lily), Julie Hega (Iris), Simon Kluth (Anton), Camilo Delgado Díaz (Jerónimo), Marina Dumont Anastassiadou (Alexia)
April 25 – Bellini: La Sonnambula – New Production – Performance from Oct. 18, 2025
Riccardo Frizza; Nadine Sierra (Amina), Xabier Anduaga (Elvino), Alexander Vinogradov (Rodolfo), Sydney Mancasola (Lisa)
May 2 – Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Timur Zangiev; Igor Golovatenko (Onegin), Asmik Grigorian (Tatiana), Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Lenski), Maria Barakova (Olga), Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Prince Gremin), Stephanie Blythe (Filippyevna)
May 9 – Donizetti: La Fille du Régiment – Performance from Fall 2025
Giacomo Sagripanti; Erin Morley (Marie), Lawrence Brownlee (Tonio), Susan Graham (Marquise of Berkenfield), Peter Kálmán (Sulpice)
May 16 – Listener’s Choice – Opera to be selected by listener voting
May 23 – Puccini: Turandot
Oksana Lyniv; Anna Pirozzi (Turandot), Brian Jagde (Calàf), Angel Blue (Liù), John Relyea (Timur)
May 30 – Gabriela Lena Frank: El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego – Libretto by Nilo Cruz – New Production/Met Premiere
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Isabel Leonard (Frida), Carlos Álvarez (Diego), Gabriella Reyes (Catrina), Nils Wanderer (Leonardo)